This is a brief discussion of some of the issues involved in the copying of artistic images. As the media keep reminding us, we live in an age when any artwork or photograph may be copied easily and cheaply, and distributed worldwide with a few mouse clicks. This situation makes copyrights much more difficult to enforce, some say unenforceable. But copyright infringement, though tempting, is still illegal, and anyone who creates or uses images should be aware of the facts.
January 8, 1997
What is copyright? When an artist or photographer creates an image, he or she owns the copyright thereto. Copyright protection exists whether the work is registered with the Copyright Office or not, although if a work is not registered, the copyright may be difficult or impossible to enforce. If you create an original artistic work, no one may reproduce it without your permission. There are only a few exceptions. One of these is the doctrine of "fair use".
Fair use covers such situations as a parody of a work, or an excerpt from a work used in a review. There are certain legal guidelines for what does or does not constitute fair use, but there are some gray areas that are the preserve of lawyers. This book should help you to determine whether a certain use of an image is covered under fair use, but as the author points out, "What constitutes a fair use exception is a murky area of the copyright law". The preceding quote is an example of fair use of Ms. Carter's copyrighted text, because I have used it in a critical review of her work.
Copyright protection does not last forever. A certain number of years after the author's death, a work passes into the "public domain", and may be copied freely. If you want to know exactly how many years, buy the book, because the laws have changed over time. There are a few other specific instances in which copying is okay, but it is a dodgy business. This book devotes a chapter to such situations, with real-world examples.
The bottom line on unauthorized copying: if in doubt, don't! There are lots of collections of royalty-free images available, for example the clipart included with many graphics programs. When you buy the collections, you buy the rights to use the images. If you must use someone's copyrighted image, you can always track down the copyright holder and ask permission. But basically, any image out there, even if it is posted on the World-Wide Web, is somebody's property, and that somebody can sue you if you use it without his or her permission. Remember that artists put a lot of work into their creations, and they have a right to demand payment for their work.
This is a non-lawerly book, written in a readable style. By itself it constitutes only an overview of copyright issues. However, Ms. Carter has included quite a lot of references to other material for those who seek more detailed information. Other books, government publications, and addresses of relevant organizations are included in each chapter, and the appendices. Whatever you need to know about artistic copyrights, Electronic Highway Robbery can point you in the right direction. Musical and other types of copyrights, however, are only mentioned in passing. Music is another kettle of fish, so if you need information on that topic, I would refer you to the popular reference tome This Business of Music.
This is a well-written book which makes up for its brevity by its comprehensive listing of more detailed sources. I recommend it.
What is copyright? When an artist or photographer creates an image, he or she owns the copyright thereto. Copyright protection exists whether the work is registered with the Copyright Office or not, although if a work is not registered, the copyright may be difficult or impossible to enforce. If you create an original artistic work, no one may reproduce it without your permission. There are only a few exceptions. One of these is the doctrine of "fair use".
